Edward Higgs

The Rise of the Information State: the Development of Central State Surveillance of the Citizen in England, 1500–2000

This essay examines existing sociological explanations of the development of the central surveillance of citizens in the light of the English experience, and finds them wanting. Sociologists see the state using surveillance for the benefit of capitalist elites, to reimpose social control over the “society of strangers” created by industrialisation. But surveillance pre-dated industrialisation, and the development of information gathering by state elites had more to do with their own need to preserve their position both within the English polity, and international geo-politics.

Domestic servants and households in Victorian England

The creation of surplus labour on the one side corresponds to the creation of minus labour, relative idleness (or not-productive labour at best), on the other. This goes without saying as regards capital itself; but also holds then also for the classes with which it shares; hence of the paupers, flunkeys, lickspittles, etc. living from the surplus product, in short, the whole train of retainers; the part of the servant class which lives not from capital but from revenue.1

Making sense of the census : the manuscript returns for England and Wales, 1801-1901

Providing researchers with a guide to the 19th century census records, this book also provides an administrative background to the census, describing the documents in detail and commenting on the nature and reliability of the information they contain. These manuscripts are widely used by genealogists, historical demographers, and those interested in social, economic and local history and the book can also be used both as a general introduction to the subject and as a means of reference when working on the records.

A cuckoo in the nest? The origins of civil registration and state medical statistics in England and Wales

The history of the establishment of civil registration and of the General Register Office in England and Wales under the 1836 Registration Act has tended to be written in terms of religion and medical science. This article argues however that it is more helpful to see these developments primarily in terms of the registering of property rights and that early-nineteenth-century debates with respect to welfare provision for the poor also played a crucial role. This explains some important features of the demographic and medical data published in the Annual Reports of the Registrar General. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND GER) (EXCERPT)

Domestic Servants and Households in Rochdale 1851-1871

© 1986 Edward Higgs. All rights reserved. First published in 1986. At any one time in late nineteenth-century England and Wales over one million men and women were described as domestic servants in the occupational category after agricultural work. This title explores several aspects of domestic service in the area of Rochdale, and the servant population is examined to discover who entered the service, at what age, and from what background they came. This title will be of interest to students of history.

Keynote Paper: Are State-Mediated Forms of Identification a Reaction to Physical Mobility? The case of England, 1500-2007

The development of technologies of identification has been linked to mobility, urbanisation and anonymity in both past and contemporary societies. This paper looks at England over the past 500 years to see if the history of mobility, urbanisation and identification mesh chronologically. Looking at the legal person, the citizen and the criminal deviant in turn, it argues that only in the case of the latter does there seem to be such a relationship. Even here, however, there appear to be other factors at work as well. Rather than mobility per se as the causal factor, the development of forms of identification seems to be linked to the changing relationships between individuals, commercial organisation and the state.

From frankpledge to chip and pin: Identification and identity in England, 1475–2005

Publisher Summary This chapter explores the history of changing forms of personal identification in Britain over the past 500 years. The chapter explains that what has been identified has changed over time and this has significance. Identification practices have moved from identifying lineages and communities, via identifying citizens, to identifying bodies. In the process, the concept of “identification” as the recognition of the “citizen” has come to be confounded with the identification of the “anticitizen.” Identification has also increasingly become a technology rather than a set of techniques. Part of the reason for this is the increasing scale of interactions within society. When the vast majority of people lived, worked, received welfare, and died within the same small community, forms of identification based on personal knowledge were adequate. However, when these social processes became dissociated during the 19th and 20th centuries, and state systems began to function at the level of the Nation State and beyond, such techniques were insufficient. Technologies that allowed data for identification to be stored remotely and accessed over considerable time-spans have become necessary.